Monday, February 26, 2007

I have included a few photos from the Napoleonic games we used to play when I was down in Singleton NSW. Myself, John Williams, Micheal Edwards, Victor Perry and David Houston would get together at least once a month and have a battle for the day. Many of the games were played at Johns house as he had the biggest table setup ready to go and always put on good food and good beer for everyone (Eddies house was good too).

The majority of the figures used were from the Elite Miniatures range produced by myself, here in Australia , and then the rest being a mix of Front Rank, Wargames Foundry and some Old Glory. The photos were taken by myself and Victor. The set of rules we were following was Advanced Shako with sixteen to twenty figure battalions, eight figure cavalry regiments and two guns to a battery of artillery. The rules are quick flowing and vvry simplistic to play ideal for introducing someone new to a game of Napoleonics.

This once great city owes its prosperity to Lysimacus, one of Alexanders the Greats generals. Lysimacus took control of the surrounding area after the defeat and death of Antigonas, which occurred at the Battle of Issus in 301BC. It was then after his death in 281BC that the city soon became an independent city under the control of Philetarus, who was governor of the city for Lysimacus. Then finally his son (Eumenes 1) and following generations were to rule until the city was willed over to the Romans in 129BC and became the province of Asia.

We only visited the Acropolis and drove quickly through the town, Ray from Essex Miniatures Australia had told us this place was a must to visit, as not many tourist would travel out this far. Both the town and the Acropolis hold some amazing sights. The town it's self has numerous buildings and ruins, still standing, however most of those are from the later Roman period. The period I was interested in was before the Romans and after Alexander. During this period the Acropolis was extensively work on and enlarge, however most of it's former glory and splendor has now also sadly gone and just ruins remain.

The best of these ruins is the amazing theatre which once seated 10 000 people (pictured above) and the marble-columned Temple of Trajan the only Roman building still sanding, in parts, on the acropolis (pictured below). If you ever get to visit Turkey then pull off the main road south and head in Pergamum is a must.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

This morning, myself and John Williams, played a 3000pts game. The two opposing sides were made up of Republican Romans and a Carthaginian Army. John played the Romans and I fielded the Punic Army. The Romans army consisted of 1 x Triarius, 3 x Princeps, 3 x Hastatus, 3 x Raw Hastatus, 1 x Roman Cavalry, 2 x Velites & 1 x Syracusan slingers. They also had a General, Army Standard Bearer plus a Consul who rode with the cavalry on the wing.

The Punic army consisted of 1 x Veteran Infantry, 1 x Samnite spearmen, 2 x Gallic veteran, 2 x Gallic warriors, 1 x Gallic cavalry, 3 x Elephants, 1 x Balearic slingers, 1 x Ligrian slingers and 1 x skirmishers unit. I know if you looked at the army list then the army would not be allowed, if playing by the rules set down in Warhammer Ancients. But we were just keen for a game and put the armies together.

The game flowed backwards and forwards until my three elephants were defeated in close combat against John's troops and stampeded back into my own line, causing two of my main units and two skirmisher units to flee back towards the rear edge of my table. However the end result was not met as I had to head off to work, thus the game finished early.

Almost all the figures used were owned and painted by Leroy Simpson, just two units of slingers and the two A&A miniatures elephants were painted and owned by myself. Pictured above is a Carthaginian elephant painted by Leroy. Crew are Essex miniatures.

A&A Miniatures Samnites

The Roman General, Army Standard Bearer and followers. All figures are from the 1st Corps Miniatures

1st Corps Miniatures Gallic warband.

Roman and Gallic cavalry clash on the wing. All figures are from 1st Corps

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Carlo and the boys from Perth,Western Australia, put on a game recently with a mix of figures from Carlo's Macedonian collection. The figures are a mix of Wargames Foundry pike, companion cavalry and Thracian's then for a bit of colour there are some fantastic Scythians from the Tin Soldier collection. The terrian boards were made by Scott Robertson, about ten years ago and are still looking good.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Battle of Thermopylae, as we all know, occurred in 480BC between the Persian Empire and the mainland Greeks. At the end of the three days of battle the Greeks, under the Spartan King, Leonidas, were finally beaten and Persian were free to march onto Athens. The above photo was taken from the small hill, identified as hill were the last of the Spartans made their final stand. It looks north towards the battlefield, the hot springs are in the middle ground and at the base of the steep slope. On the right ,were the modern road now goes, is ruffly were the the sea may of been back in 480BC. Which means that in front of the hot springs and the curve in the road may of stood the first wall and in the far distance, on the flat ground would of camped the army of Xerxes.

The first photo, above, was taken looking back over the modern road towards the hill, of the Spartans Last stand. The hill was identified as the most likely place for the final part of the battle as hundreds of Persian arrows tips have been found all over the mound. The second photo was taken on top of the hill. It is a modern plaque, placed over the old one which reads " Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie"

The last photo in this series was take from the base of the hill, looking east, towards the modern day memorial to King Leonidas.

The series of shots I have posted today were taken by me whilst on my honeymoon last year. They are photos from the Roman victory column, recovered at Delphi, in central Greece. The column was erected by the Roman Consul, Aemilius Paulus, celebrating his victory over King Perseus, of Macedonia, at the battle of Pydna in 168BC.The first picture above shows a combat between roman infantry and cavalry vs Macedonian infantry and cavalry. The Romans are pictured wearing their distinctive chainmail and large oval shields even the cavalryman appears to be wearing chainmail. The Macedonians however do not appear to be wearing any armour, but are easily identified by the large round shields of the cavalryman and the distinctive shield design of the fallen warrior, shown at the bottom right of the picture. The fallen Macedonian soldier my well be from either the famed White or Bronze Shields.

This shot is give you an excellent view of the armour worn by the Roman infantryman at the time of battle. The chainmail can be easily seen as the warrior raises his spear for the final blow on a wounded Macedonian cavalryman.

The next two shots show the ease of the the Roman victory over the Macedonians. The Macedonians are shown either falling wounded or retreating. Again in both photos you can see the distinctive shield design of the Macedonian foot soldiers.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Last year, May 2006, I was very fortunate to be involved in a tour to England. Whilst over there and during our time off I took a drive up to Doncaster for the weekend and in order to meet up with Peter Morbey, from Elite Miniatures. Peter's family and hospitality was fantastic, I was able to see the master sculptor in action, have a look at some of the new ranges he had in development and of course we played a small game. My forces, however were totally crushed in the game, being the first game using "In the Grand Manner" rules I had played and not realizing how powerful a single battery of artillery can be. By the time I came within musket shot of Peter's troops, he had already destroyed three of my battalions. But I did manage to take some great shots of the game and his figures.

Last night myself, Leroy Simpson and Brian Buskell put on a small Shieldwall game only 2350 points each. The game was played between a Viking raiding party and the Mercia Saxons on a small 6 x 4 table. Because of the gaming being played at night, the photos turned out a little dark.

The Saxons you might recognise are the ones I posted last month and belong to Leroy. However the Viking Army is mainly made up of Old Glory with a few Gripping Beast figures smuggled in. They have been painted (ten years ago) by myself, Scott Robertson and Leroy.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

One of Australia's leading painters, Leroy Simpson, has just finished one of the best single unit painting I have yet seen him paint. The figures above are from the Carthaginian range produced by A & A Miniatures. The figures were actually given to me by Scott Robertson, but me being me already had to many figures and armies to paint, so I passed them onto Leroy. Leroy has done a fantastic job and once again he has hand painted all the shields designs.